The Board Chronicles is an ongoing series of articles about the adventures of Mrs M’s Handmade as a vendor at community festivals & craft fairs. Mrs M’s subsidiary, Mr M’s Woodshop, has been approved to create this chronicle for the good of vendorkind.
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This year is not turning out how ANYONE thought it would.
The biggest & best events for makers of handmade goods on the west coast have been the Harvest Festivals … for the last several decades. These are great events, and in fact my largest event in 2019 was a Harvest Festival.
But this is 2020, and California is locked down. Totally locked down in many counties, a bit looser in others. This event was in Pleasanton, which is in Alameda county. Fortunately, that county is a little bit open.
Open enough that the promoters found a way to stage a “Marketplace,” which is not a “Festival” or a “Boutique.”
Words matter, apparently.
Works for me. I was on my way to an event in California!
New Ideas
- This was my first California event in 2020. I typically have been doing about 30 events a year … this year will be only 5. And, 3 of those will be in Arizona; 2 will be in California. I think.
- I had my biggest and best inventory yet, with 900 pieces available. They all don’t fit in the trailer, but I now have a deep inventory in Cutting Boards, Serving Pieces, Cribbage Boards and Signs.
- All booths were socially distanced, spread among 3 buildings in this county fairground. Hand sanitizer was available at every building entrance. Attendance was limited to 50% of capacity, but I don’t think that was ever an issue. The crowd was good but never large, the traffic was steady.
- The fairgroun was happy to see us: they had not had many events in these buildings this year. Our promoters found a way, and that is a very good thing.
- I now have so much inventory, I have to pick and choose what I’m taking to the event, and what I’m leaving at home. That’s a wonderful problem to have.
Observations
- I’m out of practice, but I did pack everything I needed … except for the key to the cash drawer, which is attached to a tape measure. So, the cash drawer stayed in the trailer, and I headed to Home Depot to get a tape measure that now lives in my container of critical booth supplies that goes to every event. You know, things like tape. A hole punch. And business cards.
- Two ladies came into the booth, and delivered the quote that all vendors at this event were waiting to hear: “We’ve been cooped up, dammit. Let us shop!”
- I was happy to oblige the ladies.
- The vendors were all happy to be there. These days, people are really happy to be just about anywhere but home, y’know?
- Masks were required, and people were 100% compliant.
- Requests were for an Aggravation board (coming, I promise!), pig cutting boards (left at home!) and a dough board (also left at home!).
- She said … “Do you have this sign in a smaller and cheaper version?” She was pointing to my smallest sign, priced at $30. And, uh, no. Sorry.
- Eating out has been one of the fun things for when I travel, even if only for a meal or 2. During the pandemic, though, eating out is either difficult or impossible. Having food delivered is like being pranked … the delivery person often knocks on your door and runs away before you even get the door open. As the song says, “The times, they are a-changing.” I’m not sure this is what Dillon meant when he wrote the song 56 years ago, though.
- This was a very good event, and I give full credit to the promoters that FOUND A WAY TO PRODUCE AN EVENT. In this pandemic, that was no small task. At all. It was my pleasure to be a part of this all-too-rare 2020 shopping event for handmade goods.
The Food
- Best Meal: Velda’s frozen spaghetti dinner for the win. I’m no fool.
- Worst Meal: I went to have my “free” breakfast at the Best Western I was at, not realizing that the reality of “free” in the covid era is a brown bag with a granola bar, an apple, and a bottle of water. Oh, and a packaged muffin. To go, only. I almost started missing the hated plastic cheese omelettes.
The Facts
- Total miles driven: 694
- Booth cost: $1,590
- Travel cost: $930
- Total sales: $4,788
- # of people we met during the event from the producer: 1
- Visits in our booth by a promoter’s representative: 1
- Friday alarm: 6a
- Saturday alarm: 6:30a
- Sunday alarm: 6:30a
- # transactions: 56x
- # soap & lotion vendors: There was one for sure. Maybe more.
- # woodworking vendors: No direct competitors, but many people were there that use wood as their medium. But … no direct competitors.
- Edge grain vs. end grain: 82:1
- Returning next year? Absolutely
Boards sold: 83
- Trivets: 16
- Cracker Things: 9
- Handled Cutting Boards: 9
- Signs: 9
- Cheese Boards: 7
- 5 Section Servers: 6
- Garlic Dipping Boards: 5
- Magic Bottle Openers: 5
- Small Boards: 3
- Large Serving Pieces: 3
- Cheese Slicers: 3
- Cribbage Boards: 2
- Cutting Boards: 2
- Dip Server: 1
- Bread Saw: 1
- Heart: 1
- Lazy Susan: 1
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